1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for providing Digital Rights Management (DRM) service over a network, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing DRM in which registration information corresponds to a user account depending on a DRM solution.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional digital content, such as digitalized e-Books, audios and videos, digital works may be provided without deformation or quality degradation, even when the digital content is copied many times or is remotely transmitted and received. Therefore, with the rapid development of the wired/wireless communication networks and the popularization of personal computer devices and various mobile/stationary multimedia devices, the digital content may be often illegally replicated and distributed, and/or transmitted/received without the permission the author.
Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology is a typical example of the digital security technology for restricting the unauthorized replication and distribution of digital content. The DRM technology is a technology for securely managing and protecting digital content, and as well as for controlling the use of digital content depending on the authorization information throughout the whole distribution process from the creation to the use of digital content.
Service operators and content providers typically use their own different DRM technologies to provide digital content. Therefore, various DRM systems that are not interoperable with each other exist, and some of each of these DRM systems can only be supported and managed by the corresponding service operator and/or content provider (hereinafter, referred to as a ‘service operator’ in common) that use the related DRM solution. This arrangement causes operational restrictions. More specifically, the coexisting plurality of DRM systems using different DRM solutions causes market fragmentation in the digital content market, which makes it difficult to manage the DRM systems.